Crystal Palace vs Everton: Sage's Premier League Challenge Begins
Crystal Palace head to Merseyside on Saturday afternoon with a trophy in the bag, a new manager in the dugout and a familiar problem staring them in the face.
Everton away.
Pierre Sage’s first competitive game in charge drops him straight into a fixture that has punished Palace for more than a decade. The Eagles arrive at the Hill Dickinson Stadium as freshly crowned Conference League winners, but history offers them little comfort.
Sage steps into the spotlight
Sage replaces Oliver Glasner with a reputation already burnished in France. Last season he led Lens to the Coupe de France and a second-place finish in Ligue 1, earning admirers for an assertive, front-foot style.
Now comes the Premier League, and a club with a long memory of false starts. Palace have not won their opening league fixture since the 2023/24 campaign. Only two of their previous 16 permanent managers have tasted victory in their first league game.
Sage has made it clear he will not tiptoe into the job. He wants ambition, he wants his side to attack, and he wants to go to Merseyside to win. The numbers show why he might lean into that mindset: Palace were one of the division’s most effective away teams last season, taking 24 of their 45 points on the road.
The challenge is that the opponent could hardly be more awkward.
Everton’s own demons at home
Everton’s first full season at the Hill Dickinson Stadium never quite caught fire. For long stretches they hovered around the European places, only for a seven-game winless run at the end of the campaign to drag them back into the pack and extinguish those hopes.
David Moyes, back in the home dugout and still a totemic figure for the club, has his own streak to break. Everton have lost their opening league game in each of the last four seasons and failed to score in all of them. Another blank would bring an unwanted fifth chapter.
Their home form has to sharpen. The new ground has the noise and the scale; it has not yet become the fortress they imagined.
A brutal head-to-head record
If Palace want to make a statement under Sage, they will have to rip up one of the Premier League’s more lopsided recent records.
They have beaten Everton just once in their last 23 league meetings. Ten draws, 12 defeats, and a nagging sense that this fixture always finds a way to turn against them. Across all competitions, Everton are 11 games unbeaten against the Londoners.
The away record is even starker. Palace have not won on Everton turf since the 2014/15 season. That is the scale of the task facing Sage in his first afternoon in English football.
And there is a structural flaw he cannot ignore. Palace conceded 20 goals from set pieces in the league last season, the joint-highest tally in the division. Those goals made up 39% of their total conceded – the highest proportion of any team. Corners and free-kicks were not just a weakness; they were a recurring wound.
Everton are far from perfect themselves. They closed last season without a win in their final seven league games. Under Moyes, they have never gone eight Premier League matches without victory. That line now sits directly in front of them.
Something has to give.
Palace team news: new faces and fitness questions
Team selection will offer the first real glimpse of Sage’s Palace.
Dean Henderson is a major doubt after twisting his ankle in the final pre-season friendly against Freiburg. If he does not recover in time, new signing Walter Benitez, described inside the club as a serial winner, is ready to make his competitive debut in goal.
On the right flank, Daniel Muñoz is short of minutes. He played only 18 minutes in pre-season after returning late from the 2026 World Cup, so he may have to settle for a place on the bench. That opens the door for Oscar Mingueza to start at right wing-back and make an immediate mark in English football.
Up front, Jean-Philippe Mateta has not played since the World Cup, which pushes Jorgen Strand Larsen towards the role of starting centre-forward. Around him, there is more certainty.
Ismaila Sarr, Palace’s top scorer last season with 21 goals, is expected to start despite ongoing speculation over his future. His pace and direct running will again be central to how Palace break lines away from home.
Behind the striker, Matheus Franca has forced his way into the conversation. Four goals in pre-season caught Sage’s eye, but the Brazilian may still have to wait for his chance from the bench as the new head coach leans on experience for his first Premier League test.
Palace arrive with a European trophy, a new voice on the touchline and a reputation as dangerous travellers. Everton bring scars from last season, a manager determined not to slide into another slump and a record in this fixture that borders on dominance.
Opening day, new era, old rivalry. Does Sage rewrite the script, or does Everton’s grip tighten again?
